Elementary School Drifted on by Toxic Pesticide
As children were arriving
to Mound Elementary School early this morning, a commonly used insecticide was
applied to adjacent fields. The
chemical, Lorsban, drifted over the children and towards the school as they
arrived for their classes.
Subject: Elementary School Drifted on by Toxic Pesticide
Date: Thu, 09 Nov 2000 08:06:10 -0500
From: Stephen Tvedten <steve@getipm.com>
Organization: Get Set Inc. (www.getipm.com)
To: Paul Helliker <phelliker@cdpr.ca.gov>
Director, State of
California, Department of Pesticide Regulation
Dear Mr. Helliker,
I thought you might like to read a November 8, 2000 Press Release
entitled: Local Elementary School
Drifted on by Toxic Pesticide. Mound
Elementary Students/Staff Experience Symptoms of Exposure.
Ventura, CA -
As children were arriving to Mound Elementary School early this morning, a
commonly used insecticide was applied to adjacent fields.
The chemical, Lorsban, drifted over the children and towards the school
as they arrived for their classes. Chlorpyrifos,
the chemical name for Lorsban, is known to affect the nervous system by
inhibiting an enzyme that is important to the transmission of nerve impulses.
The immediate affects of exposure include dizziness, headaches, nausea
and other symptoms commonly associated with the common flu.
At this time, two children from Mound are confirmed as
being sent home with symptoms of exposure to this pesticide.
In addition, some members of the staff have complained of headaches
throughout the day, while five students from Balboa Elementary (a neighboring
school) were confirmed as being sent home with symptoms of exposure.
"It is alarming to think, and now witness firsthand,
that toxic chemicals can be applied next to a school when children are
present." said Richard Kirby, principal of Mound Elementary. "This incident highlights the need for extraordinary
precaution when using dangerous pesticides around schools."
Members of Community and Children's Advocates Against
Pesticide Poisoning (CCAAPP) were alerted to this morning's incident when a
school official at Mound noticed the application taking place and saw the
chemical wafting into the air. School
officials immediately contacted CCAAPP, who in turn called the County
Agricultural Commissioner.
"CCAAPP has been working in the community to prevent
this type of incident from taking place," said Lynda Uvari, member of
CCAAPP and parent of a Mound student. "Unfortunately,
these incidents continue to occur with no end in sight."
After being notified, the office of the Agricultural
Commissioner responded by sending out a staff member to investigate the
complaint. Samples were taken from
both the school and an adjacent apartment complex, but may take weeks to
analyze. In the meantime, community
members are urging nearby residents to call the office of the Agricultural
Commissioner to conduct a full investigation and to implement countywide
regulations that will prevent similar incidents in the future.
"We call on the Agricultural Commissioner to implement
a policy that prohibits the application of this chemical within one mile of
sensitive sights," said Mary Haffner, CCAAPP member.
"They've done it in Santa Barbara County with metam sodium in
response to a similar incident. They
can do the same in Ventura."
###
Community & Children's Advocates Against Pesticide Poisoning
P O Box 5388
Ventura, CA 93005-0388
805/654-4186
New EMAIL Address: CCAAPP4U@aol.com
Well Mr. Helliker, it is obvious to me that as long as
you continue to allow only the use of "registered" POISONS to
"control" pest problems in California, more and more innocent victims
will continue to be contaminated. When
will it be "legal" (in your opinion) to use safe and far more
effective (unregistered) alternatives to actually control pest problems in
California?
Respectfully, Stephen
L. Tvedten
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